Monsoon season and cash handouts keep BNP Paribas bullish on FMCGs

It’s not all gloom and doom for consumer companies, and BNP Paribas says plentiful rainfall seen this monsoon season and cash handouts to farmers will help revive demand from a multi-year low.

Sales of staples will recover in the second half of the fiscal year that began April 1, as farm-support measures and above-average rain lift rural incomes, the brokerage said in a report.

“A good monsoon tends to have a mid- to long-term impact on consumer spending, and not necessarily in the near term,” Abhiram Eleswarapu, head of equity research at BNP Paribas Securities India, said by phone. “Right now, we’re